Palm Beach Atlantic University Inc.

09/17/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/17/2026 12:27

Christival Returns, Connecting Students with Christ

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Palm Beach Atlantic University's (PBA) longest-standing conference tradition, Christival, a worship-focused festival, returned with five services from Monday, September 14 to Wednesday, September 16 at the Green Complex's Rubin Arena. The event provides students, faculty, and community members an opportunity to fellowship, connect, or reconnect with God.

Songs of Praise

Every fall, the University holds morning and evening services of praise and worship followed by a guest speaker. The Department of Spiritual Life invited the band River Valley Ages from Burnsville, Minnesota's River Valley Church to lead in praising God through music. Ages focus on creating music that connects and encourages young Christians. On the final night of Christival, the band played for over an hour, and students sang along, hands lifted high, for Christ.

A God Who Meets You Where You Are

This year's speaker Dr. Ajay Thomas, is a graduate of Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary and co-founder, along with his wife, Shainu, of The Seven Mile Road Church in Northeast Philadelphia. The church's name reflects the story in Luke 24 about the two men walking to Emmaus, who encounter the risen Christ. In 2015, Thomas, along with several other South Asian leaders in ministry, formed the Advance Initiative, which focuses on spreading the Good News to South Asian communities, the largest unreached population, across the globe.

Thomas' message focused on examining the different circumstances in which a person encounters God. He gave five examples from Scripture of people from different walks of life experiencing conversion, and conviction in their beliefs. The overwhelming theme of all five messages was that God constantly reached out to people desperately needed him, despite their circumstances in life. Thomas recalled how, during the valleys and mountain peaks of their spiritual journeys, God found these people and taught them what it truly means to abide in him.

"This book, cover to cover, is the story about what God did to come get you," said Thomas, holding up the Bible.

Chasing Something Concrete

One encounter Thomas described came from Ecclesiastes 2, where King Solomon tries to find the meaning of life. Despite indulging in every pleasure under the sun, Solomon was left empty by the end of his grand experiment to identify what makes "a good life." He had all the money, luxury, and entertainment but was left unfulfilled because everything he chased was what Thomas calls "hevel." Hevel is the Hebrew word for vapor or, in other words, wind. Everything Solomon tried failed to be something he could physically grasp.

"The question is, 'What happens when success isn't enough?" Thomas asked the students in the crowd on opening night.

The answer for Solomon was to turn to something concrete: God. Unlike the "hevel," which Thomas warns could be something people today chase through material goods, occupational prestige, or idolized relationships, God is steadfast. He represents the security a temporal world could never give to a heart destined for eternity.

"All the success in the world can't replace you," Thomas said. "You were made for more, and I think you know it."

To learn more about spiritual life at PBA, click here.

Palm Beach Atlantic University Inc. published this content on September 17, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on September 17, 2026 at 18:27 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]